No More Misgivings
by accio-ambition
Summary: She's waited so long for this day, and now that it's here, Regina can't help but be frightened of the possibility that the truest form of happiness is just outside her door. Outlaw Queen wedding day one-shot :)


To the window, to the mirror, back to the window. (That's a lot of people.)

Nope. She couldn't do it. Not now, probably not ever.

Back to the mirror, to her closet, to the foot of her bed. (Of course, the entire town's here.)

Too much. This was too much. Why had she agreed to this? It seemed like a good idea in retrospect. She had been joyous, ecstatic even. Now, all it was was jumbled-up thoughts ricocheting to and fro in her head and sweaty palms she couldn't seem to keep dry and pacing, lots of pacing, even with her silly train dragging about on the floor and did she really want her hair like _that_?

A knock on the bedroom door kept her from gnawing on her perfectly manicured nails (she spent enough money on them. Were they too much? She shouldn't have had them done). "Come in," she muttered once weakly (she was anything but weak, why wasn't her voice stronger?), gulped and cleared her throat before repeating herself.

Henry creaked the door open. A sigh of relief relaxed her muscles, unstraightening her spine, slumping her shoulders forward slightly. He threw her a smile and closed the door.

"Hi Mom," he said.

Regina returned his grin and motioned him to come closer. He did, knowing any attempt to do otherwise would be a death wish. She gave him a once-over, pushing and pulling his shoulders to see every angle of him. Finally, she settled for fussing with his hair.

"I haven't seen a cowlick this bad since you were in the third grade," she said in a soft, motherly tone. The Queen tousled his hair into a less messy state, Henry's face squishing into a look that nonverbally shared his aversion and embarrassment from her actions. She gave him a quick pat on the cheek in response, then held him at arms' length when she'd fixed the problem. "But I've never seen you as handsome as you are today."

"And you've never been more beautiful," he admitted sheepishly. Regina dragged her hands down her son's arms until their hands intertwined. "Are you ready?"

Squeezing his hands, she took a deep breath. "Yes?" she answered hesitantly. Henry laughed, a full sound she would never not cherish. He'd grown up quite a lot lately, been forced to with all that had happened in the past couple years. She remembered his young and cute little jingle of a laugh from before the first curse was broken. It lit up her world then just as his manly chuckle did now. It just had to share its place in her heart with a few more people now.

"I know you're afraid," he told her. He released her hands and instead pulled her into his chest (when did he become so tall that her ear actually fell over his heart?). "But I've never seen you as happy as you've been with Robin." He kissed her cheek and pulled back, taking a move straight from the outlaw's book and resting his forehead against his mother's. "Everything worth living through makes you scared at some point."

She scoffed. "Henry, when did you begin to give me pep talks?"

"When I accepted my messed family started needing them. After I started to believe." He gave her a cheeky smile. "Just like you found happiness and love when you did."

Regina opened her mouth to chastise her son's impudence, but was interrupted by the dying din of idle chatter and the rising notes of Marco's piano playing from below (a good choice, now that she reflects on it and hears the beautiful chords humming in her ears). A quick glance to the window showed her it was time to go, time to progress, time to move on. She turned back around and caught Henry's gaze. He cocked his head to the side.

"Last chance," he taunted her jokingly. She slapped his shoulder, laughing, and threaded her arm through his offered, bent one. Together, they left the confines of the master bedroom and headed down the curved staircase to the backyard.

The volume of Marco's playing ebbed and flowed as they passed him in the foyer and Regina finally made her grand entrance into the open green space speckled with white lawn chairs. All of Storybrooke stood for her in the various stages of elation that comes with another's wedding. She'd seen it long ago as the bitter Evil Queen interrupting Snow White and Prince Charming's ceremony and took part in it first-hand at the nuptials of their daughter and the pirate.

But now it was her turn to experience it.

She could sense everyone on either side looking at her, reveling in the image of blushing bride they never imagined their former Queen being. She could feel Henry's presence at her side, feel his arm wrapped around her elbow and his hand resting on hers, but she couldn't make herself look at the man she knew stood at the end of the aisle. Not yet. Instead she looked at the ground, the bricks she's sure one of the dwarves laid when she was merely the mayor and they were merely townspeople guiding her from a dark past into what she hoped would be a light future.

Her eyes stayed downcast until she felt Henry stop. This was it. No going back now. Did she really want this? She'd managed fine on her own so far. She could comfortably lead the rest of her life without going through with this. Right?

_Lies._ She knew, had known since they met, in the back of her mind that comfortably didn't mean happily, or fully. And when she finally looked up, finding the blue eyes that cut down her barriers and took none of her excuses, she realized one taste of the forbidden fruit true love offered would never, could never be enough. Especially with him.

The movement of Henry unwinding their arms returned her from the reverie she often found in Robin's eyes. Regina hugged her son, matching smiles adorning their faces. They pulled away and Henry approached Robin, holding out his fist. The pair bumped fists, much to the amusement of the guests, before Henry strolled to his front-row seat next to Roland.

Meeting his gaze again, Regina breathed, "Hello, thief."

"Your majesty," he brazenly responded, giving her a hint of a nod of his head. Regina could only smile in return.

Never before had she felt this much delight. Her heart swelled in its rightful cavity, a part of her that would still be missing if it weren't for the man in front of her. The only event even close to rivaling this feeling was the day she adopted Henry. And, though she wouldn't disclose it to any one, that day was a far second at best.

Archie presided over the ceremony (for all intents and purposes, he was the only one, save her, that could actually perform this rite). She could only hope he spoke well of her out of actual experience and not of fear.

Not a single word he said made it through her thick head, though. Regina, the woman who accused Emma Swan of doey eyes and yearning looks (she was right, in the end), spent all of the cricket's formalities making just those at Robin.

In fact, when it came time to make their vows, Robin jumped at the chance to make his first (they had discussed this. She would go first. She didn't want to cry, didn't want to seem openly weak). When Regina began to protest, Robin held a finger over her mouth.

"Shush, milady. You'll get your turn."

"That's not fair!" she exclaimed, his finger still bridging her lips. "You distracted me."

"Just because I've got an exquisite face and eyes you'd love to drown in doesn't mean I was deliberately attempting to distract you."

Regina scowled as their friends and family chuckled at what had become 'normal' in an exchange between the couple. Robin removed his finger and his hand moved from her lips to cupping her cheek, stroking her cheekbone with his thumb.

"You are a mother," he started, looking straight past her mock anger and into her fluttering heart. "You are a friend. You are a monarch with a questionable record of leadership choices." Regina heard mumbling from the seats (presumably one of the Charmings), but nobody else seemed to notice. All eyes were focused on Robin, his eyes shut in thought and his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed his emotions.

"But, most importantly, you are my love, my _true_ love. You deserve every happiness life can afford you. Every happiness _I_ can afford you. You deserve to be loved like no other woman could ever be. You thought yourself a villain for far too long. I will remind you every day of our life together that you are not one. We are each other's second chances. It is not so often the fates reward us mortals with those." He opened his eyes, revealing miniscule wells of tears in the corners (he'd be the reason his men were so merry if he broke down). He murmured "I'm glad I get my second chance with you" as he brought his one hand down to his other and gathered her hands in his. A sigh of relief left his lips for getting through his vows without consequence, and he gave her an encouraging smirk.

"Sometimes I forget how eloquent you are," she admitted. Laughter broke from the crowd, starting with Little John hearty chuckle, Roland's giggle, and spreading like wildfire across the aisle. Regina smiled nervously and committed to staring at their joined hands. "I was naïve when Tinker Bell brought me to that tavern in pursuit of the man with the lion tattoo. I didn't think it possible for someone else to love me the way Daniel did. And so I ran, because it couldn't be true. No one else could ever love me."

She paused and sniffled. No, no, no. _This_ is why she wanted to go first. Regina could feel the pressure of waterworks building behind her eyes. Too much, way too much. _Love is weakness. _What was she even doing up here? Her head began to shake from side to side. No. This life wasn't for her, she'd tried it once and it failed and never, ever again.

Regina watched her love's hands, sensing her troubled mind, squeeze hers. They were enormous compared to hers, callused at certain creases from years of archery and roughing it in the Enchanted Forest. They were warm and soft and ensconced her hands just as they had numerous times before, not just her hands, but with his son's head, a Merry Man's shoulder, even her heart.

They were right. They were protective. They were home.

Tears began to spill out, one by one. Regina shut her eyes in hopes that they would cease. His strength, his longing, his acknowledgement of her being _his_ home passed along his muscular arms and into her fingertips, wrists, all the way up her body until she had the ability to soldier on.

Inhaling, she shakily said, "But ever since you came from nowhere and saved me and Snow from that flying monkey, you've proven me wrong. Time after time after time. Honestly, it's a bit annoying." She presumed others were laughing at her quip, but it was his shakes of laughter that forced her to open her eyes and look up. He was there, waiting. Just as he should be. Just as he would be.

"But no one has ever put that much effort into aggravating me." Regina gave one last sniff, wiped under her eyes, and returned her hand so it covered his. "So, if anything, I marry you today as a reward for the most obnoxious thief ever to steal my heart while guarding it," she admonished. "Because I know every sarcastic remark is just your way of saying you love me. Just know that every stink-eye I give you is just me saying it in return."

It was her turn to throw a sassy smile. One that went well-received, if the dazzling grin she saw in reply was any indication.

Archie spoke a little more, but once again, no sound made it past her walls. No more clammy hands or nervous ticks. She scrutinized the warmth of their hands as they cooled from a ring slipped over her knuckle and onto her finger. She felt the distinctive tingle of a band rolling between her thumb and pointer finger as she pushed it on his. The only words Regina heard Archie say were along the lines of "You may now" before Robin pounced on her. He enveloped her into his chest, her hand resting on his pounding heart, his lips pressing to hers in a fashion that always washed away her thoughts and left nothing but heat and happiness in their place.

Little arms collided with and wrapped around her knee, quite a feat to accomplish in her dress, as another, larger set came around her and Robin. When the couple broke apart, his arm still around her shoulders, her arm around his waist, she caught a glimpse of Roland and Henry hugging them. Robin took his free hand and dragged Henry into his other side, ruffling his hair, while Regina bent down and took Roland onto her hip.

The arm of her husband (a word she used once before, but it felt more right now than it ever did then) tightened around her. She followed its momentum, curling into his body, a son on each of their sides. One kiss in the shadow of an apple tree with branches sharp as arrowheads was all it took for Regina to bid farewell to all her fears and greet the future filled with hopes of family, love, and joy.

**a/n: hi friends. this is based off a post on tumblr i came across saying it would be cute if Henry walked Regina down the aisle and i liked that idea a lot. also, its fluffy, which is necessary after the massacre of feels the finale caused. also, its cute. cute's good, right?**

**im looking to expand my writing horizons, so if you have any oq prompts you're just dying to read, feel free to suggest them. i cant promise ill get them to you in a timely manner, but i can promise that i will read them and i will get them to you as soon as i possibly can.**

**oh, and if you're curious, this is kind of what i imagined Regina's dress looking like. much classy, such boob. . **

**as always, feel free to leave a piece of your mind. until next time. muah.**


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